Former West Ham manager sacked

Gianfranco Zola has been sacked by Al-Arabi. The former West Ham manager has been in charge of the Qatari side for just one season and signed a two-year contract with the club last July.

However, Al-Arabi failed to make much progress under his stewardship, finishing in the same position (eighth) and with the same number of points (35) in the 14-team league as the previous season.

“Our president has said he is going to change the coach,” confirmed a spokesman for Al-Arabi.

Zola has be replaced by veteran Uruguayan coach Gerardo Pelusso after the club installed a new president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Jabr Al-Thani.

Earlier this month, Zola was odds-on favourite with the bookies to be named next Nottingham Forest manager, with his odds, at one stage, being slashed from 20-1 to 1-4. However, Nottingham Forest have since appointed Philippe Montanier as head coach on a two-year contract. The question remains whether Zola will make a return to English football in some management position.

About Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball,
I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh.
Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons!
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